Soap-holder



'(No Model.) I

. J. STEU f.- r

SOAP HO No. 549,831, Patented Nov. 12, 1895 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH STEUER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SOAP-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 549,831, dated November 12, 1895.

Application fi'led October 8, 1894. Serial No. 525,250. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH STEUER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Soap-Holders, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to make a holder for cakes of soap which may be used in hotels, restaurants, or private dwellings and which will prevent the soap from being removed, displaced, or carried away; and my invention consists in the features and details of .construction hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of my soap-holder with a cake of soap in place; and Fig. :2, a vertical transverse section of the same, taken through line 2 of Fig. 1.

In making my improved soap-holder I make a receptacle or body portion A, adapted to receive and retain the cake of soap. I have shown the receptacle in the drawings as rectangular in form, or substantially three-sided in cross-section, to provide a practically plain opening, through which a cake of soap may project, so that the hand or a cloth may be rubbed thereon without encountering any obstacle, although it is obvious that it may be made of any desired form to suit differentshaped cakes of soap. As shown in the drawings, I have provided the upper edge of the receptacle with small inwardly projecting teeth a, impinging against or cut into the soap, and thus render it more difficult of removal through the top of the receptacle. Other means, however, than the specified ones shown maybe employed, if desired, to prevent the ready removal of the soap through the top of the receptacle. I mount the receptacle upon a standard or support B, by which it may be attached to the washstand or other" convenient place, and by which it is held up or raised the desired distance above the point of support. As shown in the drawings, this standard is provided with upwardly-extending arms b, engaging with the receptacle and holding it above the base, by which it is attached to place of use.

The receptacle is provided with a removable bottom O, which, as shown in the drawin gs, is hinged at c at one side of the receptacle and provided with a lock 0 at the other side of the receptacle. The lock is intended to prevent the bottom from being removed or swung to one side by any person who does not have the key to unlock it. Of course other kinds of locks than the one shown in the drawings may be used if desired, and I merely illustrate one form of lock to show how the receptacle may be constructed, without intending to limit myself to the special kind of lock shown. The bottom is also provided with a screw-threaded hole, preferably in its centermeasured from end to end and side to sideand with a screw-threaded rodD, which may be run up and down in the hole. The lower end of the rod is provided with an angular head adapted to receive a key for screwing it up and down and the upper end is provided with an enlarged head d, preferably in the form of a disk. I arrange a supplementary or secondary bottom E in the receptacle to rest on the enlarged head of the rod D and to be moved up and down with the rod. On this supplementary bottom the cake of soap is intended to rest, and to be forced up from time to time as may be necessary in use or to compensate for the wear. The sides of the receptacle are preferably slightly inclined from the bottom upward, so that while the upper edges of the sides bear against the cake of soap a slight space, as 6, will be left between the supplementary bottom and the sides, as shown in Fig. 2. The cake of soap F, as above-said, rests on the supplementary bottom and is intended to be forced up so that its upper edge will always protrude or project above the upper edges of the box, so that the soap may be rubbed on the hand or on the wash-cloth, as may be desired. As it becomes worn, the cake may be forced up again by screwing up the rod.

In order to facilitate the insertion of the cake of soap, I mount the receptacle in its support so that it can be swung to one side to permit the removal of the bottom by turning the lock 0 and swinging the bottom 0 to one side. In order to do this, the rod should be screwed down a proper distance, so that its enlarged head shall not strike against the sides of the receptacle as the bottom is turned. Then the bottom is turned to one side,the supplementary bottom drops out and a cake of soap can be inserted, the supplementary bottom put in again, and the bottom (J swung into place and locked and the rod screwed up so that its head bears against the supplementary bottom and carries it,with the cake of soap, to the desired height.

In order to mount the receptacle so that it can be swung, I pivot it upon screw-pivots G, passing through the arms of the standard into the ends of the receptacle. After the soap has been inserted and the receptacle swung into its vertical or other position it maybe held in such position by thumb-screws II, which pass through they arms of the standard and into holes or depressions 71 01": the box. I have shown a number of such holes arranged in the are of a circle, so that when desired the receptacle may be turned and held at any desired angle, if it should be more convenient or desirable to use it in such a position.

The thumb-screws Il may either be capable of being turned by hand or by a key, as preferred. In the latter case, of course, after the receptacle has been adjusted into the desired position it can only be changed again. by the person having a key, thus rendering it impracticable for any unauthorized person to swing the receptacle to one side and thus more easily turn the rod D or the lock 0 to remove the soap.

hat I regard as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a soap-holder, the combination of a. body portion substantially three-sided in cross section so as to provide a soap-holding chamber with a practically plane soap opening, inwardly projecting portions at the extreme upper edge of such opening to prevent the withdrawal of a cake of solid soap through such soap opening, a supplemental bottom portion removably secured in such chamber,

and means for raising or lowering suchsupplemental bottom. portion to force the soap out through the opening of the body portion, substantially as described.

2. In a soap holder the combination, with a body portion provided with a soap holding chamber and open at its top to adapt it to contain a cake of solid soap and permit its projection through the opening for use, a

bottom hinged to the lower portion of the body portion to form a door through which the soap may be inserted or removed, inwardly projecting portion at the soap opening of the body portion to prevent the entire withdrawal of the soap through such opening, a supplemental bottom in the soap holding chamber for removing or inserting the soap, a screw by which the supplemental bottom is moved up and down, and a standard to support and hold the body portion in place, substantially as described.

3. In a soap holder, the combination of a body portion provided with a rectangular soap holding chamber open at its top to adapt it to contain a cake of solid soap and permit its projection through such opening for use, a bottom hinged thereto to form a door through which the soap may be inserted or removed, inwardly projecting teeth at the upper portion of the soap holding chamber to prevent the easy withdrawal of the soap, a supplementary bottom in the soap holding chamber upon which the soap is sustained and moved, a threaded screw extending through the hinged bottom upon which the supplementary bottom is supported and moved, a lock for securing the hinged door and body portion together, a standard upon which the body portion is pivoted and sustained, andmeans for securing the pivoted body portion in any of its angles of adjustment, substantially as described.

7 JOSEPH STEUER.

Witnesses:

THOMAS F. SHERIDAN,

HENRY W. BUCHMAN. 

